


Birthday cake is cancelled

by DieAstra



Category: The Orville (TV)
Genre: Angst, Angst and Feels, Angst with a Happy Ending, Episode Tag
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-10
Updated: 2020-01-10
Packaged: 2021-02-27 05:48:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,791
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22202101
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DieAstra/pseuds/DieAstra
Summary: Ed's thoughts and feelings during some scenes of episode 2x05 "All the World is Birthday Cake".Episode tag.
Comments: 4
Kudos: 5





	Birthday cake is cancelled

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to meridian_rose for the beta!

“Prefect, what is the meaning of this?”

Ed was both confused and outraged. One minute they all were sitting at the table for a state dinner, the next moment Kelly and Bortus were taken away and the rest of his team hustled in another direction. 

“What have they done?! If we have offended you in some way, you need to tell us.”

He didn’t get any answers. Helplessly Ed turned his head to steal a last glance at Kelly and Bortus before they vanished out of sight. 

Where did they take them? What would happen to them?

He was pushed forward and hastily tried to comply, to not make any more mistakes.

What was he supposed to do now?

*****

Ed was pacing the cell. Back and forth, back and forth. There was a chair but he found himself unable to sit, unable to stand still even for a moment. He had to let his energy out somehow. Maybe it would have been wiser to conserve it for whatever was to come, but it was either screaming loudly or pacing. So he paced.

Talla was pacing too. 

“Are all first contacts like this?”

Ed ignored her. She probably didn’t expect an answer anyway.

Instead he asked, “Claire, what do you make of it?”

While looking out into the corridor Claire told him about the C-section she had witnessed. How unnecessary and highly dangerous it had been. None of this made any sense.

Thankfully they weren’t kept waiting for long. Whatever it was that these guys wanted, apparently they wanted it over as quickly as Ed and his team.

The door was opened from the outside and a bald man dressed like a doctor arrived, together with two armed soldiers. Ed quickly jumped at the chance to learn about the fate of his people.

“What have you done with Kelly and Bortus?”

It was like talking to a wall.

“Open your mouth,” the doc said in lieu of answering.

In a swift motion Talla had him by the throat and up in the air before he could even blink.

Ed reacted immediately.

“Talla!” he called, with one of the solders yelling “Put him down!” at the same time. Then both of them trained their weapons on her. For a tense few seconds time seemed to stand still before Talla slowly released the doc.

Not without saying, “Today’s your lucky day.”

For a while the only sound that was heard was him coughing until he finally managed to say, “It’s a small extraction. It won’t be painful.”

Ed wasn’t sure if he should find that reassuring or not.

This was one of those moments where he could feel the burden of command heavily on his shoulders. He had a decision to make, and whatever he decided would affect the lives of his crew. They would follow him unquestioningly, trusting that he would lead them into the right direction. He had to consider the pros and cons very quickly while everyone was staring at him, waiting for his sign.

Although he did not look at her Ed could feel Talla’s unwavering gaze on him. If he gave her the slightest hint, just a wink of his eye, she would grab the guy again by the throat and this time she wouldn’t let go. And Ed would have to wrestle one of the soldiers for his weapon at the same time, while hoping Claire was quick enough to do her bit.

While also hoping that none of them would get hurt. Talla might be quick and strong, but old fashioned bullets were a valid argument as well.

But it was three against three, and Talla counted for two. It was possible.

And then? They might be able to get out of this prison cell, they might even be able to leave the building but they had no idea where to find Kelly and Bortus, nor any way to contact the _Orville_. They had been stripped of all their equipment. And in their colorful uniforms they would stick out like a sore thumb in this society.

As much as Ed longed to take action, he simply could not see any possible way this would end well.

It was hard to suppress those feelings but the best course of action was to play along, to try and learn more about these people. And if it meant being reduced to a lab rat, then so be it.

The doctor had said that the extraction would not be painful but there was no way to know whether he spoke the truth. Ed could not be sure if he had taken human’s or Xelayan’s different biology into account. There were a lot of variables here he didn’t know when resigning himself to his fate. He’d have to hope for the best.

For a long moment Ed looked between the doctor, and the soldier, who had raised his weapon towards Ed now. He didn’t feel the need to say anything, he was sure his disgust and general loathing was written plainly on his face. But this was also one of those moments where instead of giving orders he had to lead by example. If he allowed the doc to do his thing, Claire and Talla would too.

So without any other word he finally sat down and allowed the guy to grab his chin and force his mouth open.

He had agreed to the procedure. That did not mean he had to like it. He flinched involuntarily and squeezed his eyes shut for a moment when the doc’s instrument came close to his face. Allowing a stranger to rummage around in his tender and vulnerable mouth went against every instinct of his body. Everything in him screamed at him to resist, to clamp his mouth shut, to run away from any possible torture these people could think of.

With a sudden clarity Ed recognized how little they actually knew about this society. They had jumped at their chance for first contact without doing any research first. They had stumbled into this situation blindfolded. This was biting them into the ass now, big time.

He hadn’t realized how much he had tensed until he forced himself to relax. He thought of Kelly and Bortus and what they might be enduring this very moment, and he hoped this was the quickest way to get them back.

Finally Ed opened his eyes and gave the doctor his most hateful stare but he just continued his work unimpressed. It seemed to go on forever. He had been right though, it did not hurt, but hearing the slight whirring coming from the instrument was quite unnerving.

There was a time when whole teeth had been extracted with forceps and Ed shuddered at the thought.

Finally the doc removed his tool and let a second piece of Ed’s teeth fall into a little round container. Ed couldn’t help but stare.

“Next!” the doc said.

Ed stood and motioned for Claire to take his place. She looked at him apprehensively but Ed nodded at her in a hopefully reassuring way. 

“It’s okay.”

In her head she probably already was calculating how to repair the slight damage to their teeth. Once they were back on the _Orville_. Oh how Ed longed to be back on the _Orville_ and hurry out of here as quick as possible! But he would not leave without Kelly and Bortus. No way. Never.

*****

“You can't just leave her down there.”

“It's not up to me.”

Ed felt defeated. He’d tried to fight for more time, just one more week, but Admiral Perry had been very clear about what was expected of Ed and the _Orville_ now. Time to move on. They had not been idle during the past month but they had not found a solution either. Ed was running out of options and it was driving him crazy. And having Cassius sitting in his office with this reproachful look was not helping.

Surely he didn’t think Ed sat on his hands just to spite him?

They both loved the woman down on that planet but Ed had accepted a while ago that Kelly had chosen Cassius now. Who at the moment obviously was not able to think straight. He was grasping at straws.

“Our weapons are hundreds of years more advanced than theirs. Why can't we just...”

“That's exactly why we can't!” Ed yelled louder than he had intended.

How could Cassius not see this? He had been given “the talk” when signing up for service. He knew just as well as Ed that while they might long for this simple solution, it was not as simple as that for several reasons.

One of them was that Kelly would not want it. Ed was sure of it. It had been just a few weeks ago when she had asked about his feelings and how he would be able to decide between her and Bortus if he had to send one on a dangerous mission. Oh the irony that now both of them were missing.

They had talked many evenings after their time in the Calivon Zoo. They had to come to terms with not being able to save all those other prisoners. It had weighed down on them a lot. Ed would do anything in his power to not only get Kelly and Bortus back but also help all the others that were branded Giliac. But how to do that without it being cultural contamination, that was the question he had been juggling for a while now.

They had to play by the rules of Regor 2. Trying to reason with the prefect had not brought any results but going any further than that would mean imposing the Union’s rules onto a society that was not yet ready, that had to develop by itself. Ed’s hands were bound.

He hated it with every fiber of his being. He was feeling utterly helpless. Alara had been in a similar situation when she had smashed his desk. In this moment Ed could relate to her.

He felt like smashing things himself. 

Instead he said, “We're gonna have to find another way.”

*****

They did find another way. Both Bortus and Kelly were back, safe and sound. And even though it was weeks later they got their birthday celebration on the bridge, including cake and silly videos.

Even Klyden was laughing. Well, that was a first.

Everyone was having a blast but Ed stood to the side, leaning against a console while quietly sipping his drink and watching Cassius dance with Kelly.

It still hurt. He wondered if he’d ever get used to it.

He took another sip and felt the liquid burn down his throat.

The End

**Author's Note:**

> I know this episode is not very popular with fans but I kept coming back to this scene in the cell where we could see Ed making his decision to give in and I figured I might as well write about it.


End file.
